[captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> now, "good morning washington," on your side. ,utria: on the air at 6:00 california in flames, homes turned to ash, and people running. the trouble still ahead today. adrianna: a fire investigation at a townhouse. the new questions in montgomery county. plus --

i get no pleasure in saying that. autria: the new word we are getting about how franken's future in the senate. adrianna: i am adrianna hopkins. autria: i am autria godfrey. we already have some trouble on the roads but we want to get started with a check on the forecast. veronica: it will be the coldest day out of the month so far, but our warmest day of the next 10. trending colder. by the way, the fires, absolutely amazing how many fires they -- acres they have burned. let's get you out the door this morning, because it is cold. a little more sunshine today, but you will need the coat. colder.y feel trending the possibility of seeing some flurries later today. we will move out of the 30's into the 40's for high

we will stay really in the 40's for highs. it will be a cold day and breezy at times. at 6:00, 44 to 41 degrees by 9:00. to 34 tonight, 42 euros high for friday. friday, our first chance of seeing a flurry or two around the area. that will be primarily across southern maryland. a chance for some flurries on that cold front. we will have more on the dry conditions out west. southern california, nine months they have gone consecutively not seeing much if any rain. julie: it looks like mother nature is not giving them much to go on right now. around the capital beltway, westbound 50, and overturned tractor-trailer waiting for a record to arise. traffic coming off of 50

50,ou are eastbound on there was a lot of debris. stay to the far right. we also have some problems along for 10, east-west highway at fairview avenue. it is still blocked off due to a crash. the electric company on the scene but university works as a work around. , policeark kirk road are on the scene and will direct you through. in the next 10 minutes we will take a look at the ride in virginia. autria: california burning out of control. adrianna: the pictures and video are absolutely incredible. wildfires exploding alongside hwy,ampacked 400 five turning it into a scene of hell. autria: those fires now burning so intensely that the smoke is being seen from space. right now we want to get out to claudette stephani live in vent

good morning. there really is no better way to put it that these fires are burning out of control. we are at the ventura county fire grounds where filed -- fire crews are camping out. i have been able to get updated information on where the progress of this fire is. they have been able to inch towards 5%. keep in mind, it has been 0% up until now. the fire broke out on december 4, just a couple of days ago. you can see in this incredible video how crews have been trying to get this fire under control. originally it was 65,000 acres burned and that has progressed to 90,000. while they have been able to make some sort of progression, the fi h

fire officials are banking on a pretty difficult day ahead. they are dealing with 50 mile-per-hour wind over the ridge top and by the time daybreak hits, they will have 70 miles per hour. when you are dealing with those type of wind conditions, it can make it that much more in monthly difficult to deal with these type of fires -- immensely difficult to deal with these type of fires. they have created a lot of difficulty for fire crews. we will be keeping you posted. claudette stephani. adrianna: you mentioned those winds that are driving the fire that are almost as strong as a hurricane. autria: meteorologist eileen whelan is in the stormwatch 7 weather center. eileen: i was looking at the peak wind gusts through the overnight hours, and we did have one wind gust in fremont canyon 75 miles per hour, hurricane force wind. unfortunately, the strong

is really driving the flames. i will zoom in, it has today the wind is expected to be the strongest. remained fire weather watch is in effect, critical fire conditions expected. around a lake, the wind will be gusting between 30 and 60 miles per hour, but by tomorrow, significant improvement. it is unbelievable to see the images coming out of california. now, a breaking right mother hospitalized after an overnight fire in a townhouse in rockville. adrianna: abc 7 got to the scene as soon as that happened. the mother is in her 50's and was inside with her daughter in her 20's. an officer was on patrol down the block and saw the flames shooting out of the back of the house. it was so intense it blew out the back door and shattered windows. it was mostly contained to the kitchen. crews

if it was intentionally set. officers were able to get both women out of the home safely, and the mother's injuries are not life threatening. ryan: happening today, senator al franken expected to announce his resignation according to abc news. a lot of faces here, these were the 31 senators calling for franken to resign. this morning, seven more have added their names to the growing chorus. abc news reports franken will resign, but so far his office is not confirming anything. eight women have accused him of sexual misconduct. no time for his announcement, but we will let you know when we hear anything new. if frank what happens and resigns? the minnesota governor will appoint a replacement. these three are the leading contenders -- congressman keith ellison and tim wolf, and minn

tina smith. autria: breaking news from the ghana's -- gaza smith, hamas hauling for an uprising against israel after president trump recognizes jerusalem as their capital. the u.s. ambassador to the united nations says it is the right call. >> sometimes you have to take risks. courage leads to leadership, leadership leads to to peace. protesters clamoring outside the u.s. embassy istanbul, waving turkish and palestinian flags. turkey's president said president trump made the wrong decision, and to expect backlash. adrianna: a day that will live in infamy. it was 76 years ago today in 1941 the japanese forces bombed pearl harbor. that led the u.s. to get involved in world war ii. several ships were sunk, including the uss arizona which remains underwater.

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veronica: it is starting off colder this morning, and it will end much colder today. the temperatures across the area , where you are seeing that dark blue starting out 10 to 15 degrees colder than yesterday at the same time. we are in the 30's most neighborhoods. you are going to need the coat today. we will see temperatures topped out in the upper 40's, just shy of 50 degrees, and a little breezy. 34, at wait7 to until you see the lower temperatures we have in the forecast for the weekend.

morning, a lot of it has been in maryland, but check out virginia . northbound 95 slow, accident activity before you reach the prince william parkway. we still have that crash along westbound 50 involving the overturned tractor-trailer, sky track 7 above the scene, and traffic westbound being diverted off of cape sinclair. a lot of damage to the jersey wall here, leaving traffic open in one lane. traffic is still closed off at cape sinclair. i am back within the next 10 minutes to update the ride in prince george's county. adrianna: highway robbery, de four of the new tolls on i-66 in effect, but the chorus of commuter dew points is in effect. we are behind the scenes at wash fm, checking back in with kid

>> you are watching "good morning washington," on your side. >> it is obvious that something has gone wrong. >>

get worse. autria: prince william county lawmakers railing on the i-66 toll. adrianna: some drivers paid up to $40 to drive from the beltway to rosslyn. ryan: there are a lot of outraged. lawmaker said when the idea was first pitched to them a were told tolls would not go above six dollars or seven dollars. that is not the case. leaders are taking their fight to richmond this morning. tim hugo from virginia's 40th district calling the tolls highway robbery. he is drafting legislation that would cap prices. the county supervisor says if the changes are not made, he is calling on vdot to suspend the program altogether. as for people looking for an alternative, vdot says the traffic on side streets has only increased slightly. traffic on 29 is up 8% and 6%

stay up on those volume delays, sign-up for our traffic alerts at wjla.com/text. >> 3, 2, 1. adrianna: capitol hill officially in the holiday spirit this morning. pull theaker paul ryan switch to like the capitol christmas tree with the help of a little boy named riley. riley is from montana and so is the tree. it is decked out with more than 12,000 handmade ornaments. autria: the annual tradition needs an extra boost to get the headstones at arlington national cemetery decorated. they are extending their fundraising to next thursday. wreaths will be placed by volunteers next saturday. more information on how to donate on the abc 7 news app. >> the ays have

it, this bill has been agreed to. overnight ining australia, officially legalizing same-sex marriage across the country. it follows years of political debate. the first weddings are expected in february. adrianna: american history a be dealing in england. nightton" debuted last and the reaction, just what you would expect. >> i cannot even describe it. you just have to see it. i am literally speechless. >> it was absolutely incredible, like honestly. so worth it. >> it was an amazing production, amazingly written. the set is fantastic. although it was actually better in america. adrianna: if i could afford it i would go. it has artie 111 tony awards and was performed at a fair -- already one 11 tony awards.

tickets. autria: of course it was better in america. everything is better in america. when it comes to christmas music in washington, d.c., 97.1 is the station everyone turns to. adrianna: behind the scenes with what it takes to pull out all of that christmas cheer over the air. kidd o'shea at wash fm. when is my favorite song by mariah carey coming up? kidd: i think they already played it once, but they will play it again. this is washington's christmas station, 97.1 wash fm. these are the people you will be listening to. chilli, people know this guy from washington, d.c. but maybe not on wash fm. >> are you talking about formally hot 99.5's toby knapp? >> it is good to be here.

transition. i am on in the afternoons from 2:00 to 4:00. my day starts like your day now. kidd: how do you like getting up early? >> i was telling julie wright over the weekend, it is a brave new world. i do not get up as early as this woman who gets up at -- what was it? >> 1:45. 2:30 herebuilding by hardest working person on radio. hours he is new to the but we are really in this arranged marriage of hours, getting to know each other on the air as it is happening. kidd: you guys sound great. how does it feel to be the toby and chilli show? >> is any great endeavor will work, it involves teamwork and

i am going to listen and try to learn. kidd: the best thing you can learn, lesson. we will have more this morning. autria: i know you guys do not play it very often. 6:20, and we have five tickets to ice at the gaylord national harbor. the story of rudolph the red door range of -- rudolph the red nose reindeer is being told. 703-528-7334 to win tickets. you may feel like you are looking at ice just by walking outside this morning. veronica: it is certainly cold enough. you may have christmas music in -- on in your car while you are driving. on thethe green light way through from the roads to the rails to the air, no big storms. from pennsylvania to north carolina, there is our system off the coast this morning. no delays expected.

east carolina -- eastern north carolina. as we get into the day on friday, the rain started coming back and ocean city, they be a flurry. that is -- maybe a flurry. that is what we will be watching for tomorrow. south of i-95, richmond through north carolina, and the same story through saturday, a flurry or two. it is late friday through early saturday that there could be a patch of slick spots around area roads for the saturday morning time period. 47 degrees this afternoon, and the weekend, mighty cold. 43 saturday, 36 on sunday. julie: a very busy ride on the roads. and overturned tractor-trailer. sky track trailer above the mess westbound on 50 at cape sinclair where traffic is being diverted. the truck overturned his back

debris on the highway. traffic squeezing by to the right. to can use white hall road all-male bottom back to ferguson as year work around. crash at 198 with only the left lane getting by, and 410 is tied up east of new hampshire. stick with university boulevard is your work around. i am back in 10 minutes to update the ride on 95 out of dale city. autria: the royal family targeted. the shocking plot against prince george that was just revealed. as we had to break, here is a look at some of your traffic times in maryland.

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>> you are watching "good morning washington," on your side. adrianna: 6:26 your time. police in nebraska are investigating the death of a young woman after a tender date and are holding two people of interest. >> in this morning's gma first look, a family and community mourning the loss of sydney

her date, bailey boswell and roommate are being called persons of interest by police. >> we believe aubrey trail and bailey boswell were two of the last people to have been with sydney prior to her disappearance. >> combing through evidence, looking for boswell and trail who left town after sydney's disappearance. >> she asked me to drop her off at a friends house so i did so and i gave her my number. i have not heard from her since. >> digital clues leading authorities to what they believe to be loofe's body. >> we believe there is evidence of foul play. >> much more coming up at 7:00 a.m. kendis gibson, abc news, new york.

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>> now, "good morning washington," on your side. update at 6:31 on breaking news julie wright has been telling you about. suzanne kennedy is right -- live. suzanne: good morning to both of you.

intersection of fairview avenue and east-west highway. pepco has several trucks on scene as they are dealing with this powerline that was struck overnight during a car accident. this has the entire area, the roadway shut down as they try to make repairs. here is a heads up between new hampshire avenue and ridge road on east-west highway, the roadway will remain closed indefinitely. it is unclear when these repairs will be made, but they are working quickly to get things back open as we are in the middle of rush hour. julie wright is standing by and i would imagine she has some workarounds. julie: good morning to you, suzanne. it will be university boulevard that you want to use as a workaround to avoid that closure. 95, thenia, northbound crash at opus boulevard -- opitz boulevard.

york avenue at bladensburg road. at kenilworth avenue, there is the clash -- crash blocking the right side. westbound 50 as you approach eight sinclair, this is where we find the -- cape sinclair, this is where we find the tractor-trailer. they are getting by single file to the right. , i justr to the map want to show you the bw parkway which is still on the brakes. only the left lane getting by. i am back within the next 10 minutes to update your commute out of 270. , it is cold and you say it will only get colder? veronica: plenty of cold coming our way. cold this morning, colder than yesterday. montgomery county, loudoun county seeing sunshine early this morning. reddick

and leonardtown seeing the clouds because they are lingering off the coast. as youty at 35 degrees are seeing that clearing sky. with just shy of 50, but again some clouds drifting through from time to time, and a little bit of wind. we will track an area of low pressure along that front that flurries.uce some i will show you where those could be setting up, so that is where this what we have friday into saturday. amazing images of the fires burning just north of ventura, california, fueled by the offshore wind and the driest consecutive nine months ever on record. meteorologist eileen whelan has more coming up. >> that house is completely engulfed and the smoke coming out is noxious. it is like breathing

it is dropping water right now so we might get wet. a stun a look at the firefighting efforts in california -- stunning look at the firefighting efforts in california. crews overcome with heat exhaustion, stumbling in the streets. abc 7's eileen whelan is keeping and i on these fires, and the scene is unfortunately one of dozens. eileen: the total area burning now has grown overnight to just over 110,000 acres. let's put this into perspective. d.c. itself is only 43,500 acres. fire by far is the thomas fire in ventura county that has exploded to 90,000 acres and has been fueled by the wind that keeps getting stronger . it is just 5% contained. autria:

morning out of written, a terror -- britain, a terror plot against the royals foiled. adrianna: ryan hughes joins us with the details. ryan: it is a british national behind it, accused in a terror plot targeting prince george. he has tweeted "not guilty." he used a photo of the prints and posted it next to a still of an isis missed still in -- militants saying -- "even the royal family will not be left alone," and included the address of prince george's school. he is accused of preparing attacks on potential targets in the united kingdom and is due in court in two weeks. autria: a late-night homicide and southwest d.c. under investigation. the man was shot around 11:00 p.m. on forrester street. police have not released the victim's name and no word on any

developments after an 11-year-old shot by his neighbor in suitland is in critical condition. his family says -- "we would like to thank those who have reached out to west in this difficult time. whate currently processing happened." a spokesperson said the boys parents consider this an accident as previously reported. seven is on your side with a consumer alert. toivists upset about a plan end that neutrality rules are planning to protest at verizon stores in 600 cities nationwide. the fcc is expected to vote next thursday to gut net neutrality. that would benefit the company's but hurt consumers. they want a free and open internet. one protest is set for 12: 30 this afternoon in d.c. at the metro center verizon store

consumer alert about a phishuing scam. she received an email from paypal that said she purchased a go pro for $171. she tried to report the purchase. >> click here to login to paypal, so i did. it directed me to another page where it wanted me to enter more information, address, telephone number, and i said, this does not look right. autria: she was right. when she logged in to the real paypal she realized nothing was wrong. if you get an email from a company about a purchase you did not make, do not click on any links. log on to the company the way you normally do. adrianna: patients paying off ppatience

chick-fil-a just opened and the first 130 people in line got a card loaded with 52 free chicken sandwiches. they helped pack 10,000 males to be donated to those in need. autria: so nice. overnight, the push to impeach president trump, the swift response in congress, and a big cooldown is on the way. bundle up this morning before you head out. veronica johnson has more on the way. adrianna: here is a look at your travel times in

veronica: colder days are headed our way. yesterday we saw temperatures in the low 50's, today a bit lower. urbana at 39 degrees. chevy chase at 36 degrees currently. the sun comes up at 7:13 and we will rise into the upper 30's. 41 degrees by 9:00 under a mixture of clouds and sunshine. just 47 degrees, so a bit chilly and colder for tomorrow as the cold air moves in. look at west virginia, a little bit of snow. elkins tonight could pick up a little bit of snow. we will

weekend. julie: some improvement has been made to those traveling westbound on 50. the tow truck has arrived and the overturned vehicle is gone. sky track 7 is above the scene. traffic is still being diverted off of cape saint clair and the delays go all the way back to the bay bridge. you can see it is bumper to bumper, almost 25 minutes to travel three miles back toward cape st. clair. eastbound, all lanes are open. i am back in 10 minutes with an update on the ride out of dale city. autria: still to come, in the right place at the right time. the story of two women saved from a house fire. this man standing face to face with the flames. what is he doing so close to the california wildfires? new word from capitol hill,

>> now, "good morning washington," on your side. we begin with a breaking news alert.

breaking news out of california, where the wind picked up overnight, making it harder for crews to fight the wildfires. autria: as kenneth moton reports, hundred 50,000 people are evacuated. wildfiresifornia threaten exploding. this intense wall of flames in ventura county. the fire in los angeles county moving fast, impacting the 405 freeway. a commute for drivers caught by surprise, literally sitting next to burning hillsides. >> there are a lot of homes here. >> the fire has taken out several multimillion dollar homes in bel air. matt gutman is right there. >> that house is completely engulfed and the smoke coming out is noxious, like breathing in tear gas. the helicopter overhead now. dropping water right now so it might get w

threat zone in southern california, sparking mandatory evacuations. burned,ra, 90,000 acres houses reduced to rubble. ismy 16-year-old son, it hard for him, but he has a good attitude. >> those whose homes were spared our pitching in to help their neighbors. >> grateful we have our home but very sad for my neighbors. it is just horrible. >> fire officials say the santa ana wind is reaching 70 miles per hour in some areas, relief expected by the weekend. kenneth moton, "good morning washington." adrianna: firefighters are dealing with these raging flames , and this video surfaced of this man kind of wandering around really close to the fire. it took a minute to figure out what he is doing, but there you see a rabbit was in harm's

he picked it up and hopefully got it somewhere safe. here it is saving an animal. desk here he is saving an animal. -- here he is saving an animal. autria: they tried to interview him and he wanted no part of it. he was just saving the animal. good samaritan. abc seven is on your side with government watchdog nathan bok a. he has written a story of what it is like to watch his hometown burn from the other side of the country. you can read his powerful thoughts through the abc 7 news app. breaking news that we have been following all morning long. adrianna: montgomery county has confirmed an early morning fire at a townhouse in rockville is arson. a woman in her 50's was injured and her daughter had to be rescued. it shattered windows and blew out the back door.

damage and right now, no one is under arrest. autria: new developments and the search for the remains of pamela butler. adrianna: john gonzalez is live outside of d.c. headquartered -- police headquarters. john: ladies, good morning. this cold case nearly nine years old, and investigators will be going to an area in northern virginia about 50 miles from where pamela butler once lived. derrick butler, her brother telling abc 7 that authorities are being led to stafford county, near interstate 95, by the man behind bars. jose rodriguez-cruz in early october pleaded guilty to killing butler, his ex-girlfriend, convicted of second-degree murder. he agreed to tell where he hid the body in exchange for a 12 year sentence. he killed her in

dragged her body out of a window. she was 47 at the time and employed with the federal government. her family has never given up hope, saying it is never too -- close this case, bring pamela home, and have a proper goodbye. happening tonight, a vigil at the lincoln memorial to remember in mclean man shot and killed by park police appeared he was shot november 17 after police say he hit another car and led them on a chase along the gw parkway. we learned that shooting was caught on dash cam video but has not been released. the fbi is leading the investigation. the vigil is 9:00. adrianna: senator al franken expected to announce his resignation from the senate according to abc news. were of faces here, these the 31 senators calling on franken to resign as of last

more have added their names to the growing chorus. franken will resign, but so far his office is not confirming anything. beknow whatever he says will done from the senate floor, not in a press conference. eight women have accused him of sexual misconduct. autria: the clock is ticking down to a possible shutdown, but this morning, hope it will be averted. the house will vote on a short-term spending bill before funding runs out tomorrow at midnight. this comes as congressional leaders from both parties had to the white house in hopes of hammering out a long-term budget deal. adrianna: representatives in the house overwhelmingly voted to kill a resolution to impeach president donald trump. says theal green president has associated himself with racism and bigotry, but lawmakers say now is not the time to consider impeachment.

>> 3, 2, 1. capitol hill officially in the holiday spirit. paul ryan and a young man named riley flipped the switch to light the capitol christmas tree. riley is from montana and so is the christmas tree. it is decked out with more than 12,000 handmade ornaments and who knows how many lights. veronica: beautiful, it is gorgeous. adrianna: we just started december and you say we are getting a taste of january. can we get through the month first? veronica: a taste of january starting tomorrow, colder than average, and it will stay that way for days, probably going into the mid part of the month where temperatures will be below average. 36 on sunday your high, 33 stay. you are

today we make the transition, 47 your high, 37 in springfield. 36 now in rockville, maryland. cold out the door this morning, but our temperatures will be at their warmest today than any day in the next 10. 47 degrees the high. our average temperature, 49. tomorrow, clouds back in the area around 7:00, 8:00, and 9:00 where the temperature start falling into the 30's. we could have a flurry or a sprinkle mix in across southern maryland. it could make for a few slick patches on area roads. sundayy and sunday, morning feeling like 18 in d.c., 11 degrees in frederick, maryland. coming up on news channel 8, we will talk about next weekend

our snow chances coming up. that is coming up in about 10 minutes on news channel 8. you can see next tuesday, maybe a little bit of rain and snow. julie: somebody is getting coal in their stocking. thisill find we still have portion of east-west highway shut down between new hampshire avenue and riggs road. suzanne kennedy has been reporting live. crews are telling me it could take up to four hours for these repairs to be completed, so this section of the east-west highway likely to be shut down until 10:30. lan on using university. -- sky trackskye 7, the crash involving a tractor-trailer at cape st. clair cleared. the backup coming off of the bay bridge headed westbound over to cape st. clair, 30 to 35 minutes westbound on 50. back over to the

tunnel 95, half an hour from dale city north to the beltway. that is our traffic watch. back within the next 10 minutes with an update on your commute headed into northeast. adrianna: it is beginning to sound a lot like christmas on the radio. autria: kidd o'shea is live at the wash fm studios, taking us behind the scenes to see how it comes together. kidd: good morning. i am hanging out with toby and chilli and i think you guys can agree, it is starting to feel like christmas. the music sounds great on the radio when it is cold outside. >> a little hot chocolate with marshmallows. mine would be sugar-free. it is the most wonderful time of the year. kidd: you have been a part of the christmas music on wash fm for a long time. i have had people wonder, do you get sick of hearing the christmas music, but you look forward to it. >> i look forward to it every

the world, i like the warm and fuzzy of christmas music that takes me back to wait time that for me was less complicated. kidd: we were talking about the most requested song and it is "all i want for christmas." when it comes to the most recorded christmas songs of all-time. " has been night reported over 137,000 times. kidd: there is only one other version of "all i want for christmas," and we will hear this afternoon. we are hanging out all morning long, more coming up after 7:00 on news channel 8. a behind-the-scenes look at what is hap

good morning, america. scorching inferno. those california wildfires growing in size. 80-mile-per-hour wind gusts fueling the massive flames. these homes swallowed by smoke. thousands of firefighters struggling to battle the blaze. >> this is hot. >> reporter: the urgent attempt to save this animal. now schools are closing, amusement parks threatened and new warnings out this morning. under pressure, senator al franken promising a big announcement this morning as dozens of democrats call for him to step aside after a new accuser comes forward. dating app mystery.